This blog will present news items about the motion picture business, with emphasis on lower budget, independent film in most cases. Some reviews or commentaries on specific films, with emphasis on significance (artistic or political) or comparison, are presented. Note: No one pays me for these reviews; they are not "endorsements"!

About Me

Since the 1990s I have been very involved with fighting the military "don't ask don't tell" policy for gays in the military, and with First Amendment issues. Best contact is 571-334-6107 (legitimate calls; messages can be left; if not picked up retry; I don't answer when driving) Three other url's: doaskdotell.com, billboushka.com johnwboushka.com Links to my URLs are provided for legitimate content and user navigation purposes only.
My legal name is "John William Boushka" or "John W. Boushka"; my parents gave me the nickname of "Bill" based on my middle name, and this is how I am generally greeted. This is also the name for my book authorship. On the Web, you can find me as both "Bill Boushka" and "John W. Boushka"; this has been the case since the late 1990s. Sometimes I can be located as "John Boushka" without the "W." That's the identity my parents dealt me in 1943!

Saturday, December 22, 2012

"Race to Nowhere" questions the extreme pressure we put on kids, from grade school to high school

The documentary “Race to Nowhere”, directed by Vicki Abeles
and Jessica Congdon, builds a case that we are simply piling on unreasonable
demands on our upper middle-class kids in public schools, even going back to
elementary school, but particularly in high school.

The 85-minute film, with interviews and footage originally
shot in 2009 (largely in the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Area schools), is
finally available on DVD from Reel Link films. The DVD so far hasn’t been sold
on Amazon (at least when I ordered it directly).
Schools must order a version licensed for large public exhibition. But the
company encourages home use purchasers to hold “house parties”. That’s no joke; when I was substitute
teaching in the Arlington VA school system in 2004, the Career Center kids made
a film called “The House Party”. I have
it. (The sequel was called “Slices of
Life”. Maybe director Russell Burger
should meet and network with Abeles; they obviously share common concerns about
our teens.) Seriously, I think that
Abele and Reel Link should look for commercial distribution with at least a
limited theatrical release in “art cinema” houses. I don’t know if it was submitted to any film
festivals (AFI Silverdocs sounds appropriate to me).

The film interviews author Etta Kralovec (“The End of
Homework: How Homework Disrupts Families, Overburdens Children, and Limits
Learning”, with John Buell, Becaon Press, 2001). The problem with this book is that it
predates George W. Bush – who, for all his Republican ideology, implemented one
of the most intrusive Federal education programs ever – No Child Left
Behind. The film does cover the agony of
“teaching to the test” and teacher bonuses based on kids’ performances. And I think that this film predates DC School
Chancellor Michelle Rhee (she appears in “Waiting for Superman”), who held DC
teachers to unbelievable standards.

As I type this, I have to note that CNN is now presenting a teen
Alex Berdy, who campaigned for President Obama in 2012, at age 16 – learning real
world political skills. He has actually
met Obama. Consider that report “today’s
short film”. Now, back to this movie!!

In fact, the CNN interruption makes the point: that learning
needs to be practical. It is a lot more
than standardized and teacher-specific exams, term papers, and grades.

The film interviews a particular high school student, Sam,
who struggled with some aspects of his academics, but also wrestled. The varsity sports issue is brought in to
show that students are expected to do everything for college applications. Sam
says he would starve himself to make weight.
“I have to deprive myself for ‘them’.
I belong to them.” There could have been an even racier
opportunity here if the movie had presented competitive swimming, and shown
boys “shaving down” (their legs) to peak and supposedly maximize athletic
performance and gain the tiniest competitive edge (rather like the “two bishops”
in a chess game).

The film also presents a girl who composed music and who had
made good grades, but one day (in ninth grade, I think) made an “F” on a math
(algebra) test. She would soon take her
own life. Once you’re a 4.0 student, the
only way to go is down. But that’s true
in sports when you’re in first place.

The film does cover the problem of cheating (starting with copying homework and plagiarism), which really was taboo when I went to high school 1958-1961, and when (even in a world with a military draft and student deferments) a lot was made of honor codes. If you cheat, are you cheating yourself? Maybe not always. David Callahan's 2004 book "The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead" (Books blog, March 28, 2006) seems relevant.

The film depicts unbelievable amounts of homework expected
in both elementary and particularly middle school. I certainly had that homework, but I don’t
remember its being excessive in the 1950s.
Then, the mantra was “read, don’t watch television”. Now, kids seem to spend all their time –
homework and social – online. Well, not
those who play football, wrestle, or swim.
(I guess Washington Nationals’s ace fastball pitcher Stephen Strasburg
didn’t either. But could today’s schools
allow another Strasburg to flourish?)

When I substitute-taught in the 2004-2007 period, I had the
impression that most of the tests and homework as reasonable. The algebra tests were straightforward and
pretty standard. If I brushed up, I
could have worked the AP calculus tests (which were sometimes divided into “with”
and “without “ calculator. In math and
physics, it’s possible to make up extra-credit test problems that actually
engage students (like how fast would Clark Kent have to run to catch his own forward
pass in the end zone, if it reaches a certain height when thrown?) One AP chemistry class made a short
instructional film about a fictitious radioactive element (see drama reviews, Dec. 14, 2012 for more on
this). The kid who directed” the short film was a pitcher (lefthander) for the high school
baseball team. Yes, if he shows up in
the majors I’m going to remember and go to the game. Actually, I know another high school student
very skilled on video and performance arts, probably enough to work in the film
business right now. It’s hard to see
that AP and IB courses are too much for students who are capable of the work.

I guess my point is that what I have seen personally is a
lot more varied – and encouraging – than what is depicted in this film. Still, the film makes a point about how far
our culture has carried the idea of personal meritocracy. “Who happens to those who can’t?” Maybe we are encouraging students to focus so
much on “making it” that, besides the obvious medical risks (anorexia, lack of
sleep, increased risk of mental illness – suddenly recognized as a serious risk
to society) they don’t learn to become social beings. Look at the issues with fewer children born
later in life (International issues blog, Dec. 21).

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